Psychology Glossary

Self-Concealment

Self-concealment is an individual's conscious choice to hide negative or distressing secrets about themselves from other people. Unlike repression, which is an unconscious choice to hide information from the self, in self-concealment, the person knows the secret. He or she just decides not to tell anyone. A certain amount of self-concealment is healthy, especially in certain social situations. You wouldn't want to go to a store and share with every stranger how your last colonoscopy went. Those who never share personal information, however, are more likely to become depressed, anxious, and defensive in their relationships.